Siddalingaiah (79) breathed his last this afternoon, doctors at a private hospital, where he was under treatment for the past weeks for different ailments, said.

"He died due to multiple organ failure today," doctors said, adding, he was affected by H1N1 earlier but had recovered from it.

Siddalingaiah, who made his directorial debut in 1969 with "Mayor Muthanna" casting Kannada thespian Rajkumar in the lead role, later went on to direct blockbusters like "Bangaarada Manushya" and "Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu."

"Bangaarada Manushya", a social film which was a phenomenal box office hit with Rajkumar in the lead role that also earned a niche for Siddalingaiah, who created a record in the Kannada cinema world running in a theatre in Bengaluru for two years.

Siddalingaiah had also directed a Tamil movie. Family sources said the last rites will be performed on Friday.